Constitution Basics — Set 7

Correct Answer: B. 7

• **7 Members** = the Drafting Committee had 7 members, including Chairman Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, K.M. Munshi, Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, and others. • **Most Important Committee** — the Drafting Committee prepared the actual draft of the Constitution; the Assembly discussed and approved it over 166 days across 11 sessions. • 💡 Option A (9) is wrong because the Drafting Committee had exactly 7 members, not 9; Option C (11) is wrong because 11 was the number of sessions held by the Constituent Assembly, not the Drafting Committee membership; Option D (5) is wrong because the Drafting Committee had 7 members — 5 is not associated with any major committee of the Constituent Assembly.

Correct Answer: B. Article 32

• **Article 32** = the Right to Constitutional Remedies; Dr. Ambedkar called it the 'Heart and Soul' of the Constitution. • **Five Writs** — Article 32 empowers the Supreme Court to issue five writs: Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition, Certiorari, and Quo Warranto to enforce Fundamental Rights. • 💡 Option A (Article 19) is wrong because Article 19 deals with six freedoms (speech, assembly, movement, etc.) — it is an important right but not called 'Heart and Soul'; Option C (Article 14) is wrong because Article 14 guarantees equality before law and equal protection of laws — Ambedkar did not call it 'Heart and Soul'; Option D (Article 21) is wrong because Article 21 guarantees right to life and personal liberty — though fundamental, it was not specifically called 'Heart and Soul' by Ambedkar.

Correct Answer: C. Prem Behari Narain Raizada

• **Prem Behari Narain Raizada** = calligrapher who hand-wrote the entire original Indian Constitution in a flowing italic style; he charged no fee, only requested to inscribe his and his grandfather's name on each page. • **Handwritten Document** — the original Constitution was not printed; it was handwritten in Delhi by Raizada; the decorated pages were done by Nandalal Bose and his team from Shantiniketan. • 💡 Option A (Nandalal Bose) is wrong because Nandalal Bose led the team of Shantiniketan artists who decorated and illuminated the pages, not the calligrapher who hand-wrote the text; Option B (S.N. Mukherjee) is wrong because S.N. Mukherjee was the Chief Draftsman who translated legal proposals into constitutional language; Option D (Basant Krishan Vaidya) is wrong because he is not historically associated with the writing or decoration of the original Constitution.

Correct Answer: A. Artists from Shantiniketan

• **Artists from Shantiniketan** = Nandalal Bose led the team that decorated and illuminated the pages of the original Indian Constitution with intricate borders and illustrations. • **Beohar Rammanohar Sinha** — was a key artist who illustrated several pages; the Preamble page was decorated by Beohar Rammanohar Sinha; the entire decorative work was done in the Shantiniketan style. • 💡 Option B (Artists from JJ School of Art) is wrong because the JJ School of Art (Mumbai) did not contribute to the Constitution's decoration — Shantiniketan artists from Visva-Bharati University did; Option C (M.F. Husain) is wrong because M.F. Husain was a famous modern Indian painter but was not involved in decorating the Constitution; Option D (Raja Ravi Varma) is wrong because Raja Ravi Varma was a 19th-century painter who died in 1906, decades before the Constitution was written.

Correct Answer: B. The longest written constitution

• **Longest Written Constitution** = India's Constitution is the world's longest written constitution of any sovereign country, covering both Union and State governance. • **Why So Long** — India's diversity (multiple religions, languages, regions), large size, and the decision to include provisions for states (unlike the US where states have their own constitutions) made it very detailed. • 💡 Option A (The shortest written constitution) is wrong because the USA is considered to have the shortest written constitution, not India; Option C (An unwritten constitution) is wrong because the UK has an unwritten constitution based on conventions, statutes, and precedents — India's is fully written; Option D (A partly written constitution) is wrong because a partly written constitution like the UK's has no single document — India's Constitution is entirely written in a single document.

Correct Answer: B. Ireland

• **Ireland** = source country for the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP); Ireland had itself borrowed them from the 1937 Spanish Constitution. • **Non-Justiciable Guidelines** — DPSP (Articles 36–51) are not enforceable by courts but are fundamental in governance, guiding India toward a welfare state. • 💡 Option A (Germany) is wrong because Germany's Weimar Constitution contributed the suspension of Fundamental Rights during Emergency; Option C (USA) is wrong because the USA contributed Fundamental Rights (Bill of Rights) and Judicial Review; Option D (Canada) is wrong because Canada contributed the concept of Federation with a strong Centre and residuary powers at the Centre.

Correct Answer: A. January 24, 1950

• **January 24, 1950** = the members of the Constituent Assembly signed the final copy of the Constitution; 284 out of 299 members present signed it. • **Last Session** — this was the final session of the Constituent Assembly; two days later, on January 26, 1950, the Constitution came into force and India became a Republic. • 💡 Option B (November 26, 1949) is wrong because that is the date the Constitution was adopted/enacted, not the signing date; Option C (August 15, 1947) is wrong because that is Independence Day — the Constitution was not yet drafted then; Option D (January 26, 1950) is wrong because that is Republic Day when the Constitution came into force — the signing had already happened on January 24.

Correct Answer: A. India, that is Bharat

• **Article 1** = states 'India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States'; the dual name satisfies both the modern (India) and traditional/Sanskrit (Bharat) identities. • **Union of States** — the word 'Union' was deliberately chosen over 'Federation' to signal that the Union is indestructible and no state can secede. • 💡 Option B (United States of India) is wrong because 'United States' implies a federation of states with greater autonomy; the Constituent Assembly rejected this naming; Option C (Hindustan) is wrong because while 'Hindustan' is a common colloquial name, it is not the official constitutional name in Article 1; Option D (Bharatvarsha) is wrong because 'Bharatvarsha' is a traditional geographic/cultural term but not the specific name used in Article 1.

Correct Answer: A. Government of India Act 1935

• **Government of India Act, 1935** = most profound influence on the Indian Constitution; about two-thirds of the provisions were drawn from it. • **Key Provisions** — Federal Scheme, Office of Governor, Public Service Commissions, Judiciary structure, Emergency provisions, and legislative procedures all trace to the 1935 Act. • 💡 Option B (Pitt's India Act 1784) is wrong because this Act created a dual control system with the Board of Control and Court of Directors but had no lasting constitutional structure; Option C (Indian Independence Act 1947) is wrong because it only facilitated independence and partition — it did not provide constitutional structure; Option D (Regulating Act 1773) is wrong because it was the first step towards British parliamentary control over the East India Company but had no bearing on the Indian Constitution's structure.

Correct Answer: D. 14

• **14 languages originally** = the Eighth Schedule listed 14 languages in 1950; currently 22 languages are recognized. • **Additions Over Time** — Sindhi (1967, 21st Amendment); Konkani, Manipuri, Nepali (1992, 71st Amendment); Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Santhali (2003, 92nd Amendment). • 💡 Option A (10) is wrong because the Eighth Schedule never had only 10 languages — it started with 14 in 1950; Option B (22) is wrong because 22 is the current number after all amendments, not the original count; Option C (18) is wrong because the Eighth Schedule had 18 languages from 1992 to 2003, but the original count in 1950 was 14.